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Miguel A. Blando

Mr. Gagnier

English 9 Honors

May 23, 2019

Black Kinfolk

As the Reconstruction era in the South took place, by the 1860s, the hope for African

American success diminished. Once the Civil War had happened and the North had proclaimed

the end of slavery, blacks dreamed for ¨fuller participation in American society, including

political empowerment, equal economic opportunity, and economic and cultural

self-determination¨ (Smithsonian 1). Nonetheless, the white south passed policies controlling the

black population´s rights and, eventually, their cultural progress. Known as the Jim Crow Law,

this law assured their segregation and second-hand position within American society. Not to

mention, a seed for the growth of white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, who would

promote, much like southern politics, lynchings and prejudice against African Americans. As the

economy was booming, with millions of industrial jobs being offered in the north, blacks sought

to move from the oppressive south to a more prosperous land. As time passed, thousands of

African Americans had populated areas such as New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, etc. Where

this was most evident though, was in the small neighborhood of Harlem, located in the northern

section of New York. Approximately there were ¨...175,000 African Americans, giving the

neighborhood the largest concentration of black people in the world¨ (Smithsonian 1). In here,

African Americans had the opportunity to find their identity and showcase their culture to a

nation filled with racism. This movement, famously known as the Harlem Renaissance, laid the
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foundation for the development of African American identity, nationalism, and, eventually, the

Civil Rights movement.

Before the Harlem Renaissance, the image that represented the black individual was the

infamous Jim Crow character, derived from the self-titled song, Jumping Jim Crow. Developed

and played by white minstrel performer Thomas D. Rice, "He would put on not only blackface

makeup, but the shabby dress that imitated in his mind — and white people's minds of the time

— the dress and aspect and demeanor of the Southern enslaved black person," (Lott 1). This act

would be a recurring symbol of racism in the south. As seen in the Antebellum and

Reconstruction era, blacks would not be recognized by their rich culture and identity from the

African colonization era, but as Jim Crow, a disabled slave. This stereotype would continue

further, as a new law in 1877, ironically called "The Jim Crow Law", was implemented,

enforcing segregation in the south. During those times, blacks would be exposed to frequent

lynchings, arson, and attacks from hate groups. Even with the 13th amendment having abolished

slavery, African Americans were still defined by prejudice. Fortunately, in the Harlem

Renaissance, black people created a movement molded by literature, art, and music. This

flourished a new identity and culture for blacks. African American figures like Langston Hughes,

Zora Neale Hurston, and Aaron Douglas made society recognize blacks great works,

"challenging the racist and disparaging stereotypes of the Jim Crow South" (Smithsonian 2).

People from this moment embraced the arts to seek separation from the past history that, in that

time, defined the black race. As Alain Locke, Harvard writer, famously said, blacks transformed

“social disillusionment to race pride” (Smithsonian 2). Demonstrating that African Americans

took their struggles and, instead of remaining disappointed, they shaped a culture that all black in
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the future, present, and past could be proud of. Even in a point were society stripped them of

their rights, blacks flourished from this issue and, in the end, grasped their identity and pride for

their own skin.

With racial pride growing during the Harlem Renaissance, and politics clashing with the

idea, a nationalistic ideology within African Americans started to spread. Known as black

nationalism, it ¨… advocated economic self-sufficiency, race pride for African Americans, and

black separatism¨ (Stanford 1). One of the earliest examples of black nationalism was with black

intellectual, activist, and sociologist William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (W.E.B Du Bois).

Graduating from Harvard 1895, he became the first African American to receive a doctorate

from the university. Most notably, Du Bois is known for founding the National Association for

the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an organization dedicated to eliminating racism

in an inclusive way. Not to mention, also for his pieces of literature like The Souls of a Black

Folk, The Talented Tenth, etc., which addressed issues of prejudice and preached for equality

among all. He would for his entire life continue to make a strive for justice, yet, in his later years,

during the time of the Harlem Renaissance, Bois “...thinking would exhibit, to varying degrees,

separatist-nationalist tendencies” (University of Virginia 1). This can be most evident when he

advocated for the ideology of pan-Africanism, which encourages all people of African ancestry

to unite and fight for their issues. Du Bois would attend a variety of Pan-African conferences

and, even went to the extent of quitting both his job as the editor in The Crisis and the NAACP.

He also was one of the first black people who introduced black nationalism and its concepts into

the light of other African Americans. According to the University of Virginia, “Du Bois's black

nationalism is seen in his belief that blacks should develop a separate "group economy" of
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producers' and consumers' cooperatives as a weapon for fighting economic discrimination and

black poverty”. Essentially, he believed that there was a need to use the time’s issues, and ignite

a nationalist movement that would return pride to the black race and also combat against the

people who left them in poverty. In this case, as mentioned, Du Bois believed in making black

people merge and create their own manufacturers, an objective of creating a threat against white

people. Even if unintentional or intentional, De Bois influenced and laid the foundation for black

nationalism in America. Other figures and people during the Harlem Renaissance, because of his

work, started to follow his more radical approach. Another point is that also because of the

constant prejudice at the time, and the African Americans discovering their identity, nationalism

rose to fame. De Bois, as mentioned, was the one who introduced this ideology, yet it was the

racism clashing with black pride that expanded this idea. The Harlem Renaissance was when

blacks became successful and, the population itself was the center of culture in the United States.

That is why black people became more proud of their identity and skin. Due to the combination

of figures like De Bois, preaching for African American Americans to be credited, black people

realizing their capabilities, and white oppression during the Harlem Renaissance, black

nationalism flourished as a long-lasting movement in the US.

The Civil Rights Movement was transformed by African American identity and courage

to fight against oppression, lack of rights, and prejudice. After the Harlem Renaissance’s

conclusion and the end of World War 2, opportunities and jobs in the United States declined. The

group that was most affected was the black population, as in the United States, the priority at the

time was for white people to work on paying industrial jobs, while African Americans would be

left in the farms. Not to mention, the Jim Crow laws were still in place, oppressing blacks rights
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further. The NAACP had, for years, had maintained their “national dominance in the civil rights

field”, yet it was the efforts done by individuals and black nationalist groups that ignited the

Civil Rights Movement (Britannica 1). For example, in December of 1955, one of the first

demonstrations by an African American was when Rosa Parks refused to up her seat in a bus to a

white man. This sparked a bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama and thousands of protests

nationwide. Rosa Parks became an icon for this movement and helped start making blacks

realize their pride that they had not had, since the Harlem Renaissance. Furthermore, another

impactful figure, and frankly the face of the Civil Rights Movement, was Martin Luther King Jr

(Luther). A Baptist minister, raised in the south, he’s advocacy and peaceful protests became the

center point for African Americans rights. Luther seeked, like much of the black population,

“rights of those of whites, including equal opportunity in employment, housing, and education,

as well as the right to vote, the right of equal access to public facilities, and the right to be free of

racial discrimination” (West's Encyclopedia of American Law 1). He would organize the

Southern Christian Leadership Conferences (SCLC) and nationwide tours, in hope of creating a

framework that would restore black pride and gain rights throughout the United States. Luther

would be inspired by Harlem Renaissance leaders and writers like Langston Hughes, who would

inspire his debut speech A Raisin in the Sun, and much of Luther’s works that gained him fame

in all the United States. Furthermore, he would inspire and promote many of his ideas on

equality and activism to his followers, many of which were from figures in the Harlem

Renaissance. Other leaders, in the opposite of Luther’s ideas, would also be founded by

principles established during the Harlem Renaissance. For example, Malcolm X (Malcolm), one

of the most influential leaders of the Civil Rights movement, who much like Martin Luther King
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Jr, gained nationwide popularity. Malcolm directed his ideology more towards W.E.B Du Bois’s

Black nationalism, a direct contrast to Luther’s ideas of inclusion among races. De Bois

suggested the Pan-African ideology, which is defined by “the principle or advocacy of the

political union of all the indigenous inhabitants of Africa” (AHA 1). Malcolm, similarly,

proclaimed the Nation of Islam’s ideology, which like Pan-African, united people from the same

ethnicity and, in this case, religion to achieve, “political, economic and social success”, even

with the cost of being violent against the white population. Another example, of Du Bois’s

impact, is with the organization founded in 1966, known as the Black Panther Party. This

organization was even more radical than Malcolm X’s and other black nationalist leaders

ideology. This Marxist revolutionary group “called for the arming of all African Americans, the

exemption of African Americans from the draft and from all sanctions of so-called white

America, the release of all African Americans from jail, and the payment of to African

Americans for centuries of exploitation by white Americans” (Duncan 1). Meaning that members

would resort to violence against authority and white civilians to gain all rights that had been

taken by the Jim Crow Law and white America. In its climax, this group had terrorized the US in

the 1960s and it was, along with groups such as Universal Negro Improvement Association, the

Nation of Islam, etc. the nationalistic groups that took Du Bois ideas and spread them in a more

forceful way. Without these groups and leaders leading the way, the Civil Rights Movement

would of have never taken off and, in the end, ended discrimination. It is without a doubt that the

Harlem Renaissance and it’s figures molded ideas that directly influenced the ideologies that

would be followed in the Civil Rights Movement.

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On the other hand, many experts would argue that the Harlem Renaissance did not have a

major influence on the Civil Rights Movement. Rather, it was the efforts of the leaders within the

Civil Rights Movement that established the start of black identity and nationalism. Despite

popular beliefs, the ideas of black pride and nationalism were started by leaders in the Harlem

Renaissance. Due to the social and economic problems at the time, their ideas did not eradicate

racism or become a national movement. Yet, it did introduce the fight of blacks against white

America. Not to mention, this renaissance gave African Americans back their ancestry and

empowerment to stand out, even in times of oppression and prejudice. It was the various

influences from the Harlem Renaissance, from leaders, ideas, and the cultural impact that built

the opportunity for the Civil Rights Movement to take place. For example, it was poet Langston

Hughes who inspired Martin Luther King Jr to write many of his now famous speeches and

believe on change. Meanwhile, without W.E.B Du Bois, there would be the not direct influence

for black nationalism organizations and leaders. It was the work and impact that the Harlem

Renaissance brought, which created the structure for further change in the Civil Rights

Movement and for black people to raise their voice.

Finally, it is undeniable that the Harlem Renaissance influenced factors such as black

identity, nationalism, and power that, in effect, created the premise for the Civil Rights

movement. Even in an oppressive and prejudice filled nation, the renaissance managed to start to

move blacks away from injustices, while reinventing their identity and pride. Not to mention,

influence leaders such as W.E.B Du Bois to bring radical ideas like black nationalism to a

national scale, and Langston Hughes to introduce literature about black struggle and resistance in
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society. Factors that proved to be vital for the creation and long term success of the Civil Rights

Movement.

Bibliography:

“A New African American Identity: The Harlem Renaissance”. National Museum of African
American Culture. ​Smithsonian.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/new-african-american-identity-harlem-renaissance​. Accessed 24
May. 2019.

“Du Bois, W(illiam) E(dward) B(urghardt)”. Virginia University.

http://www.virginia.edu/woodson/courses/aas102%20(spring%2001)/articles/dubois_bio.html​.A
ccessed 24 May. 2019.

Duncan, Garret Albert. “Black Panther Party”. ​Britannica.​ Encyclopedia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party​. Accessed 24 May. 2019.

“Malcolm X”. ​Malcolm X.​ CMG Worldwide. ​https://www.malcolmx.com/biography/​. Accessed

24 May. 2019.

“Montgomery Bus Boycott To The Voting Rights Act”. ​Britannica.​ Encyclopedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/event/American-civil-rights-movement/Montgomery-bus-boycott-to
-the-Voting-Rights-Act​. Accessed 24 May. 2019.

“NAACP HISTORY: W.E.B. DUBOIS”. NAACP.

https://www.naacp.org/naacp-history-w-e-b-dubois/​. Accessed 24 May. 2019.

“The Pan-African Movement”. ​American Historical Association.​ AHA.

https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/teaching-resources-for-historians/teaching-and-
learning-in-the-digital-age/through-the-lens-of-history-biafra-nigeria-the-west-and-the-world/the
-colonial-and-pre-colonial-eras-in-nigeria/the-pan-african-movement​. Accessed 24 May. 2019.